they come out with a deal, they may not reach a deal. it's possible that the republican leader mitch mcconnell and democrat leader harry reid may not make a compromise at which point harry reid says he'll put president obama's plan, $250,000 as a threshold for raising income tax rates and extending unemployment benefits and that's about it, put that to an up or down vote and see if republicans block it either in the senate or the house. not necessarily going to be a compromise deal although that obviously would have a much better chance of passing congress if it gets some republican behind it. >> juliet: you're going to have lindsey graham on the show. i think it was lindsay graham the other day who said you call these public-- you announce the meetings publicly it's usually political theater. what is your assessment what's happened over the last couple of days? are we really seeing any real action going on behind the scenes in your opinion? >> well, absolutely. i mean, there's no question, and i think it's much more in terms of the staf